


My Heart Is Too Full For Words

by Elial_Shadowpine



Series: Kindred's Future [2]
Category: Black Jewels - Anne Bishop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Crack, Crack, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 19:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12217389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elial_Shadowpine/pseuds/Elial_Shadowpine
Summary: This is a follow-up to Kindred's Call, set in modern day Australia, which once many aeons ago was known as Pruul. This started out as a crack!fic with a kindred Newfoundland. I didn't expect it to get much attention, but folks asked for more... so here it is.Noelani, the Newfie Black Widow, and Veristra, the phantom kindred feline who discovered her and convinced her to leave the landen and join the kindred's commune. This is a short piece about their journey, and ultimate arrival to Kindred's Commune.





	My Heart Is Too Full For Words

Noelani trotted after the phantom cat, Veristra, her fur changing color to match the grassland and turning translucent. The cat set a grueling pace, making the Newfie work for it. Lindsey, her "owner," kept her on a chain that wasn't terribly long, in a small, contained area with very little greenery. While Lindsey leashed her and look her on a walk around the neighborhood on a semi-regular basis, it definitely had not built up the muscles and stamina to keep up with her fellow kindred.

But she wasn't about to ask Veristra to slow down. Noelani had too much pride. She set her jaw, and continued on, panting in the blazing Pruul-Australian sun. 

Veristra glanced over her shoulder, her tongue lolling lazily. *Shall we slow our pace?*

A low growl escaped Noelani. *No. I can manage.*

The cat huffed. *Do you wish to die of pride? You've been a kept pet, pampered by the landens, never encouraged or allowed to extend yourself. Of course you struggle.*

*I'm not—*

Veristra hissed and cuffed Noelani's ear. *Don't lie to me. You may be the first kindred I have liberated on my own, but your psychic scent betrays your lie.*

The memory that Veristra was the leader of the Pruul-Australian kindred commune returned, and that meant Veristra must have learned to read those of her people. Besides, it wasn't as though Noelani had terribly much practice lying to other kindred. Landen, of course, but that was simple. Veristra wore a Red Jewel, outranking her Sapphire, and there was no way Noelani could alter her mind.

Noelani swallowed, her throat parched. *Fine. You know I was a kept _thing_. Lindsey might have loved me, but she never saw me as anything more than a dumb animal. She kept a busy life, with landen friends and lovers and her ever-important work. Once a week, if I was lucky, she would leash me and take me around the neighborhood.*

*If that neighborhood is like the others my kin have described, it cannot be terribly large.*

*No,* Noelani sent bitterly. *Five houses down, and then we turned and came back. I was kept on a chain in the backyard. Lindsey thought I was too large to be what she called a house pet.*

Now Veristra growled. *Your fur is the color of the night sky. That is naught but cruel in the unyielding heat of this land.*

Noelani agreed, but didn't speak it aloud. Instead, she sent, *When Lindsey left each morning for work, I used Craft to unlock the chain and gate. I explored and found restful, glorious shade, near a stream. Lindsey did not always remember to leave water and food for me.*

Veristra halted. *The landen that claimed to care for you left you to go hungry and suffer thirst?*

The instinct to defend Lindsey reared its head, but Noelani heard the phantom cat's words and felt their truth deep within her soul. She could no longer deny Lindsey's mistreatment. *Yes. I found water, and I hunted for my meals. Lindsey—she loved me—but—*

A snarl ripped out from the phantom cat's throat, silencing Noelani. *Love does not harm. Love does not starve. Love does not deny precious water. Love does bind behind wood barriers. Love does not chain. This landen—this Lindsey—this one bound you in chains and twisted your mind until you believed that all her neglect and abuse was love. It is not love.*

Noelani's ears drooped, the words settling in, resonating within her as truth she could not deny. *I have known nothing else.*

A feline chuckle escaped Veristra. *Worry not. You will know love. Soon, we will reach Kindred's Sanctuary, home to those brave enough to escape their landen oppressors.*

Fur bristled across Noelani. *Not all landens must be oppressors.*

Veristra turned her head back and met Noelani's gaze, a haunted look in her eyes. *Once you have heard the stories of our kin, you will rethink that statement.*

*No, I won't!* Noelani snapped, baring her teeth. *You cannot judge an entire race by the actions of a few. That is wrong. Think of what the Blood have done in the past. Are we corrupt oppressors?*

A single moment passed. *It is true that the Blood of the past did terrible things. But we have been robbed of our independence. There are fewer human Blood than there are kindred, and the landens enslave us as pets, considering us nothing more than animals. If we should dare practice our Craft where a landen can see, we are deemed dangerous and sentenced to death. When the landens know what we are, they fear us—and that fear leads to slaughter. To survive, we must hide our true selves. The Darkness has abandoned us.*

*That's where you're wrong,* Noelani sent fiercely. *The Darkness may not be able to save us all, but it has not abandoned us. When I needed it the most, it was there, waiting, and comforting.*

Veristra looked at Noelani strangely, as if she didn't quite believe what she heard. She shook her head slightly. *Believe what you will. If the deluded imagining of the Darkness eased your pain, then I suppose it was worthy after all. But it is not and will never be truth, no matter how steadfast your belief.*

Noelani bared her teeth. *You can send until your mind shatters, but you will never convince me that the Darkness does not exist. I have felt its touch, and its love. The Darkness has kept me alive when I would have chosen to die.*

The cat shook her head, her fur fluffing in the wind. *Very well. Cling to your fantasy. One day, the truth will come to you. I pity you, for the pain will be great. It is devastating to lose faith solid as the Jewels themselves.*

*And how would you know this?* Noelani snapped. *You're so damned sure that you're right. What if you're wrong? What happens when you become a song in the Darkness? What then?*

A sad look crossed Veristra's face. *I died, Noelani. It was only by the grace of a truly gifted Healer that I returned from the grave. There was no Darkness. There was simply… nothing.*

Noelani shuddered with a sudden chill. *And the Song?*

*That,* Veristra admitted, *is true. Witch, the true Witch, became the Song in the Darkness, and she sings even now. It haunts me to this day. I would do near anything to hear it again, but I would have to die—and my people need me.*

*Speaking of your people,* Noelani changed the subject. *Where are they, precisely?*

Veristra chuckled, and sent a psychic signal that even Noelani could hear: *Show yourself. We have a new member of our commune.*

About a dozen kindred appeared from nowhere, having used Craft to stealth themselves. They circled Noelani, and she took their appearances in awe. Wolves, cats of various races, unicorns, horses, so many different creatures that she couldn't take it in.

Veristra curled her lip into a feline smile. *Welcome to your new home, Noelani.*

A feeling of faintness rushed through Noelani. So many. Such a change. But…. All of the Kindred's Commune looked upon her with curiosity and was it—yes, yes it was—acceptance. She had only been there a moment, and spoken not at all, and yet the expression in their eyes and faces was that of a desire to embrace and befriend.

Had she tear ducts, Noelani would have begun crying tears of happiness. Although she never knew it previously, her domicile with Lindsey was nothing more than a shelter, somewhere to survive, but not to live, not truly. Looking at the welcoming, happy faces around her, Noelani knew one thing that was the first to happen in her life:

This was home. The faces looking at her revealed love and delight. Again, for the first time in her life, Noelani felt that she was truly wanted, for who she was, without having to hide her nature as kindred and as Blood.

*Welcome Noelani to the Commune,* Veristra announced, loudly so all could hear mind to mind.

*Welcome, and blessed be,* came a chorus in return.

Noelani choked, but thankfully it didn't affect telepathy. She bowed her head and sent, *My heart is too full for words.*

 


End file.
